From the Ashes
by Perfect Psionic Soldier
Summary: One Shot. A fragmented story about a vegabond Naruto, before he would bocame something more.


From the Ashes...  
By  
Perfect Psionic Soldier  
  
Prologue  
  
It was those moments that had been the turning point in his life. The culmination of twenty-one years of living that was shattered within a single moment, a moment where everything was burnt away, leaving only emptiness...  
  
Eyes that perfectly mirrored the roving skies tracked the endless ceiling above him. It was bright, as though the skies themselves had seen the brighter memories of his existence. His dull eyes had momentarily brightened with the ever clear blue skies.  
  
It was completely obvious now at why Shikamaru stared at the clouds. They were aloof things, transcending the boundaries of obligation and attachments. They drifted through life at their own pace and did their own things. It was relaxing, watching such creatures flow through the heavens in their paced dancing. There was nothing quite like staring at the clouds.  
  
He was happy, once, and knew things like joy and laughter. Fulfillment was what would have been used to describe him then. He was so full of life and mirth that it was hard to link his past to his present. He had felt complete and that nothing in the world could have gone wrong. He felt invincible during those golden days.  
  
But now, broken... a shell of what was once a great person, he slumped in a dirty dead end alley. An alley that smelled of waste which had been his home for the last week, but all that was momentarily forgotten as he continued to stare at the reflective skies, ignoring all else around him. The hanging clouds that slowly thickened with the passage of hours that blurred together into a hazy memory.  
  
It was beginning to darken, though it was barely the beginnings of noon, the telltale gray clouds began to move into view, blocking out the brighter blue skies and blanketing sunlight.  
  
Arms carelessly sprawled at his sides, he reflected on himself as he had done every day since that incident. Reflections that skittered across his mind were something that he could not control like, the gentle caresses of the wandering winds. They moved as they liked, the stream that was his consciousness touched memories good and bad, leaving only the numbness of past feelings under these ever-changing skies.  
  
He was once considered a person with great potential, a person that had a bright future ahead for himself. He had worked hard, gotten above the average chuunin and even had a beautiful wife at the age of seventeen. It seemed that he had it all and even had the envy of others. Envy, a feeling directed at himself, it was something that he never dreamed that others would feel towards him. It felt good, having things that he once only dreamed about.  
  
From there his life was supposed to be a perfect harmony of love and contentment where he was to continue to try hard, live a good life and maybe even have a few kids that he would someday see off and perhaps train to become ninjas. Good ninjas that would have done his village justice and honored his family name. Even the dream of Hokage paled before the future of his children. They would have made him happy.  
  
He would have been proud of them, regardless of their chosen path in life. He knew he would have encouraged them on. Giving what he never had, to prevent what he had felt from ever being felt ever again. That was a goal he would always strive for, preventing the future from repeating his lonely past.  
  
Soon another hour passed as the skies darkened and within another hour, thunder flashed across the sky. A white bolt ripped across the dark underbelly of a large cloud, illuminating his alley briefly before it was tracked down by the angry snarl of the thunder's clap. It was a booming noise that few could ever ignore.  
  
Then it rained.  
  
Slowly at first, it drizzled the moments before the thunder made its presence known, but with the thunder's angry clap, it began to pour down onto the world below, drenching everything that didn't have a roof over its head, and a raised floor beneath them.  
  
For himself, there was no escape. Nor was there any attempt at avoiding the cold wet rain that perpetually fell from the darkened skies. Rivets of rain trailed down his head and onto his body, drenching him within what seemed like a blink of the eye.  
  
Looking up, he watched in bland indifference as the drops of rain trailed down his body, soaking his tattered rags and limp body. Water trailed down from blonde soaked hair and small rivets of water crawled down from a water logged head and attempted to find a dry to place to soak.  
  
Yet he did not notice the sudden drop of body temperature, as he had no longer cared. Nor had he cared for the months since his life shattered. There was simply nothing really worth living for now. With his most precious people long since forgotten, vanished or simply indifferent to him nowadays. They had seemed to outgrow the need of his presence. They were growing up and he was proud of that.  
  
He didn't have the resolve to commit suicide so he went down a slower path of decay that had but one destination, his death. He had simply stopped caring. Hunger was ignored, hygiene discarded as he wondered aimlessly through the land, looking for a good place to sit down and die.  
  
He ate when he could, hunger overriding even his want of death in fleeting moments but he never had enough to eat and without proper amounts of food, he was destiny was all but finalized. It was only the fact that he had an incredibly resilient body that he was alive today, staring at reflective clouds that hung above him.  
  
Reflecting on renewed knowledge, gained under a cloudy sky of cold rain, he found himself slightly moody now that his single form of entertainment was gone. Although the falling rain did hold its own appeal as the countless drops of water descended onto the earth.  
  
Puddles grew into small rivers as tendrils of water worked their way around the land, linking into each other and flowed downwards, into ditches and then into small water grates that lead to the underground sewers.  
  
The sound of flowing water and falling rain was soothing to his ears. The sporadic flashes of light and claps of piercing thunder were ignored as he simply slumped slightly and let the cold water numb his mind and the soothing sounds lull him to forgetfulness. It was so easy to simply close his eyes and once again relax.  
  
The splatter of rain on his skin and the surrounding cobbled ground was almost musical and blended well with the symphony that was rainfall. The clapping thunder, splattering rain and flowing water, together they sang to him and it felt as though they sang only for him. He had never really noticed until now, but the music that was created here and now was both enthralling and majestic. It beckoned him towards something that he had long forgotten.  
  
Opening his eyes till they were half lidded, he caught a glimpse of a few shadows leaping overhead. Then those shadows were followed by a few more.  
  
With a slow blink, he tilted his head so he could get a clearer view, but nothing changed. Nothing moved. With a light grimace, the thoughts of madness floated through his mind. Does the past still cling to me? He thought momentarily before a flash and boom followed suite.  
  
Closing his eyes again, he resumed to listening to the rain before something caught his attention. A clear ringing sound that rang crisply through the air, stirring memories he rather left forgotten.  
  
A moment of silence hung in the air and for a brief moment, all was peaceful. Then another clear ring pierced the rain followed by more and then a scream of pain cut across the cloudy sky.  
  
He remembered those kinds of cries once, long ago. He had been a good shinobi. One who was experienced using kunai, his second weapon of choice. He favored barehanded combat above all else. The learning of Rasengen was only a step onto the path of taijutsu that he never knew he could walk on.  
  
He had trained long and hard during those days. He used to train from dawn till dusk in the hopes that when the time came, he would be able to protect those precious to him. Those few who accepted him as who he was. He would have given his life without another thought or regret.  
  
Fate however, had different plans for him. He was now no longer the person or shinobi that he used to be. No. He was simply a vagabond that had nothing to live for anymore.  
  
Taking a ragged breath, he allowed a ghost of a smile to flutter across his face. Death, that was all that he wanted to look forward to now. That was all his mind thought of, all that he wished for.  
  
Thinking back, he tried to remember that fateful day that changed his life, but as he tried to think back, he became confused as he drew a blank. There was nothing to remember aside from the fact that it just hurt too much to think about.  
  
Taking a slow deep breath, he once again closed his eyes as he suddenly felt sleepy. Snuggling his back into the wall, he began to doze off again, regardless of the fact that the sounds of ringing metal still hummed around the air, peppered with screams of rage and pain.  
  
Nothing else existed to him but the music of the flowing water and falling rain.  
  
He almost succeeded in sleep but something filtered through the music and grated on his ears. A small chattering sound that didn't fit in with any of the music at all.  
  
Cracking open a eye he saw something that surprised him enough to open his other eyes as well. Blinking a few times to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating the image remained.  
  
Before him stood a shivering little girl in a muddy torn grey smock that didn't even reach her waist. With no shoes or any other article of clothing she stood in a small puddle of cold water, her blue tinged lips clamped shut even as the sound of her chattering teeth simply weaved through her best attempts to hide the fact that she was freezing.  
  
She was staring at him with obvious fright and slowly inched her way into the alley as she quickly darted her head back and forth, her small face full of fright. Her small hands clutched the tattered rags to her soaked body as she shivered in the freezing rain while her teeth still chattered. She reminded him of a scared mouse.  
  
Making it halfway into the alley, she stopped and seemed to try to shrink in on herself as she leaned against the wall. Though her eyes kept darting they always settled back onto the only other occupant of the alley. Never leaving for more then a few seconds to look around herself and always returning, as if keeping an eye on him in case he tried anything.  
  
Locking gazes with her, he blinked once, slowly, as he studied her eyes. They were a dominant brown that was currently full of fear. Mud smudged her body face, masking her under grime that was slowly being peeling off rain. It was obvious that she had fallen a few times on her way to this alley.  
  
Brows furrowing at her expression, he frowned slightly as he looked down. Watching her brought up his past, memories of his youth of being hated and disrespected came bubbling up. Sitting up he looked at her again and noticed that she was slowly inching away from the alley, fear absolutely etched into her eyes as she was prepared to make a run for it.  
  
She froze mid step however as she heard a rasping sound coming from the man who had just moved. At least she thought he had just moved. She wasn't sure and panic was starting to take over her body. She was so afraid and wanted nothing more then to just vanish from this place and those people. She wanted to go home. But... but... she had no home. Running however still seemed like the best idea. If only her legs would work faster!  
  
"Come."  
  
Frozen in place, she stared at him, looked into his eyes as they locked onto her. She couldn't move but his face had a small smile on it and he didn't seem to want to hurt her. So she started to move closer by an inch... then another... and another... and before she knew it, she was taking full steps towards him.  
  
He blinked once as the rain's music became a dull background sound as she stood in front of him, shivering but her eyes. though anxious, were no longer full of fear. Giving his best friendliest smile that came across a weak attempt at something happy, he unzipped and took off his jacket. The reaction was immediate. She screamed.  
  
She panicked. Her body went on automatic reverse as she tried to turn, run and zip away as fast as humanly possible. However, what actually happened was that she took a step back, her trembling foot slipped on a patch of mud and she ended up falling squarely on her bare rear as mud and cold water splashed everywhere. She screamed again.  
  
She barely registered the fall as her mind raced. She remembered that act, taking off a jacket. He took off a jacket before he did painful things to her, her memories filled with a odd shadow taking off a jacket and mumbling words as she sat in a circle with red lines everywhere. The shadowy person then stood before her and raised a hand that ha lines of black light stream from it and it hit her. Both her and her memories screamed in terror as she crunched her eyes shut and braced her for the pain to come. She did the only thing she could, she continued to scream.  
  
With a thump of something hitting her shoulder, she opened her eyes in shock at the lack of pain. Her scream cut short as she blinked away water. She felt a bit colder and since she wasn't hurt, she then looked at what had hit her. On her shoulder was an orange thing. It took her a few moments before she realized that it was a jacket that was currently giving her a hint of warmth.  
  
Looking up she found herself rooted in place as she the stranger smile down on her. It was the first time she ever saw this person, with his blond hair and dirty face, but he smiled none the less and his blue eyes shined. She found herself smiling back. He seemed nice and his smile was warm.  
  
Moving slowly as to not frighten her again, he slowly put his right arm through the right sleeve he slowly reversed it, so it hung limply on the inside. He then repeated the same process with the left sleeve and then tied it so that the sleeves hung around her back below her bottom, so that she could use it as a seat whenever she sat.  
  
Gently zipping up the front, he then sat back to stare at his work. His old orange jacket that he had grown into was more like a cape on her. Her face was stuck in a ring of aged fur and the jacket simply hung around bare feet.  
  
He wasn't sure if he said anything, but he the word 'good' flashed through his mind as she responded with a nod. She looked cute when she smiled and he smiled down on her, his past and problems momentarily forgotten as he leaned back against the wall, his already soaked black shirt now exposed to the rain.  
  
The jacket had been one of his prized possessions. Not because it had to do with his ancestry, which he still had no clue of, but because it was with him as long as he could remember. It has been with him through the good, the bad, and had been stitched up so many times it was a wonder that there was anything but stitches on the thing. He had grown into the thing, but now...  
  
Now he didn't need it anymore. The girl before obviously needed it more then he did so it was hers. Though wet, it would at least keep out most of the rain. With a smile, he also realized that she was also no longer naked. No girl should have to run around naked, he never did and he was a despised person as a child.  
  
Leaning back, he simply closed his eyes and relaxed.  
  
It took a few moments before he wondered what happened to the girl. Opening his left eye he noticed that she was no longer in his field of vision and with a ghost of a smile he wished her the best and closed his eye.  
  
The sound of his jacket against the stone wall he was leaning against caught his attention and turning to his right, were the sound had come from, his eyes widened as he noticed that she was also sitting beside him. She was also looking up at him for a brief moment before she took a small breath and in imitation leaned back and closed her eyes.  
  
With an amused smile he turned his head around and was about to close her eyes when she screamed again.  
  
Wincing at the fact that his right ear stung, he turned his head around and saw her staring ahead with those fear etched eyes that made him distinctly unhappy. She shouldn't ever have to look ahead with fear in her life.  
  
Turning around to look ahead himself, his eyes widened at the sight of another person in the alley. Dressed in a generic blue shirt and pants, they were loose and with a flak jacket it, it became apparent that he was anything but ordinary.  
  
It took a moment but as his eyes scanned the person, he saw a headband with a metal plate around his left leg. Wearing something that proclaimed him shinobi, the three long ovals, two of them connected with the third simply hung on the top left, proclaimed that he was a shinobi from the hidden cloud.  
  
With a smirk the cloud ninja took a step forward.  
  
Looking ahead with bland eyes, he noticed that the little girl was beginning to shake with fear. Her smile long since fled and it angered him. For the first time in so long he felt something other then emptiness.  
  
With a second step, the ninja came closer.  
  
The alley itself was simply three meters wide and ten meters long. With every step, the cloud shinobi came half a meter closer, meaning that had eighteen steps before the shinobi reached him and her.  
  
Heart thundering in his chest, he felt a quiver of fear creep up in his mind as he realized that he was at a complete disadvantage. His opponent wasn't rusty, hungry, had malnutrition or afraid and tired. He was so afraid.  
  
The fear must have been showing in his eyes as the shinobi simply smirked and ignored him as he continued to take forward steps. The ninja was already halfway before he realized how close the danger was. His mind panicked again and before he knew it...  
  
Two steps left...  
  
The sudden knowledge that that the man was in front of him and reaching for the now screaming girl jolted him out of his shock as he simply reached out and stopped the man with his right arm.  
  
Looking over his shoulder, the man stood motionless for a brief moment before a foot suddenly lashed out and crushing his right ribs, smashed him against the corner of the alley.  
  
Coughing up blood, mixed with thoughts of self-pity he found himself struggling to breathe as he tried his hardest to get up. To simply get up. It was so hard.  
  
Tears welled up, blurring his vision as memories of previous battles flooded his mind. He had taken worse then this, much worse. Yet during those times he had gotten up. To stay down was to admit defeat. To give into death... but... wasn't that what he wanted? To die...  
  
A scream of fear pierced the fog of his mind as he looked up and saw the little girl, her smile momentarily flashing before his eyes, being punched in the stomach, her frail form hitting the ground.  
  
A second moment of panic gripped him as he studied her motionless form, fear for her life clutching at his staggering heart. But then the sounds of her breathe floated over to him and he felt his heart ease slightly.  
  
Bending down, the shinobi was about to pick her up when he stopped and turned his lead to his right and raised an eyebrow in amusement as he saw the vagabond with orange pants stagger up. His smirk however, wavered and melted into a frown as he felt a sudden burst of chakra. A red chakra flooded his calm mind with fear.  
  
Standing, he felt his fists tighten as he dashed at the man, a punch ready to connect, but the shinobi was far from surprised and with years of decay hanging onto him. The shinobi simply flipped over his opponent and smirked as he saw the vagabond stutter and attempt to turn around.  
  
With a casual flick of his hands, the shinobi threw a kunai at the vagabond's venerable left kidney. A smile grew on his face when he noticed that his aim was true and with a splash, his opponent clutched at the sharp weapon as he fell to his knees, gasping in pain and surprise.  
  
The smile grew even larger as he noticed the vagabond actually clutch at the weapon and he felt respect grow as the man tugged the kunai out and look stare at him. The knowledge that the kunai was going to be thrown back at him was evidently being screamed from the vagabond's posture and the chakra that the kneeling man before him had already dissipated. There was obviously nothing to worry about.  
  
However, the shinobi still didn't relax his guard, as even a lucky hit could be devastating to him. With a haughty laugh, he prepared himself to move in any direction as the vagabond prepared to throw his bloody weapon. Gasping in surprise and coughing out blood, the shinobi staggered backwards as his mind raced to register what had happened.  
  
Looking down, the shinobi was surprised to find his own kunai sticking out of his chest, half embedded. With a gargle he straightened himself as the damage was only done to his right lung, he still had his left lung and his training was pulling him through. It had only managed to hit the left part of his right lung, avoiding a heart wound.  
  
Dashing forward, ignoring the searing pain at his side, he threw a punch at the shinobi's right with his left, only to have it blocked and he followed up with his right, which was also blocked.  
  
Releasing his fists, he then grabbed at the shinobi's shoulders and drawing his head back for a dramatic smash, the shinobi reacting to his every move as the man gripped at his arms and prepared to lung forward, to smash his head into the vagabond first.  
  
Moving his head down, the motions were already set as the shinobi lunged forward, smashing the top of the vagabond's forehead but gurgled in a mixture of pain and shock as the shinobi realized that his kunai had been driven in deeper by something.  
  
Drawing back his right knee, he stared at the struggling shocked shinobi for a moment as he reoriented himself before he stepped forward with a leading left and a coiled right. In one smooth motion he smashed his right fist into the hilt of the weapon, pushing it deeper into the body and cracking a piece of the man's ribcage.  
  
With a final gurgle, the shinobi dropped to the mud and splashed away water as his shocked face found itself half submerged in a rather deep puddle of water. He had won. After all these years, he still had it...  
  
Staggering to the wall, he sat against it as he took deep breaths as the familiar feelings and tensions in a life or death battle left his system. He couldn't sense any others around but then again, he doubted he could have sense one unless the person was standing in front of flashing their head protector in his face. It had been too long since he had to do anything as strenuous as this.  
  
He raised his hands to look at them. Both hands were, he noted with slight surprise, splattered with blood. He wasn't sure if the blood was just his or mixed with the damn cloud and his stupid kunai.  
  
Feeling drained, he let his hands fall to his sides as he took in a few more deep breathes. The burst of charka long since gone from his system. It was plain luck that he remembered any of his training from his past.  
  
Feeling his wound, he was surprised to find that it was already healing. Half lidded memories vaguely poked at him but he didn't bother to remember as he turned his attention back to the girl.  
  
Blinking in surprise, he found her sitting against the wall, looking at him with both fascination and something else. Perhaps it was apprehension? Fear for what was to come and what was to become of her?  
  
Staggering to his feet, he willed himself from falling over as he simply grunted at her and with a wave of his hands, told her to follow as he took a few staggered steps and walked towards the streets. The sounds of small footsteps running up to him gave him a small smile as she splashed her way over to him.  
  
Kneeling beside his kill, he momentarily stopped as something along the lines of regret crossed his heart. He never did like killing... but without another thought, he simply reached down and took out the shinobi's weapons.  
  
Surprised that he only found a handful of shurikens and one extra kunai, he found himself pitying the cloud forces if this was the best they could equip their soldiers with. However, he was also surprised to find a small cloth bag that seemed out of place in a vest pocket. Opening up the bag he only found a few bills, but pocketed them anyways. Charity to the living... he stated mentally as he stood up and began to move ahead.  
  
Reaching the open street, he was surprised to find more then a few dead bodies litter the ground. To his left was the street leading to the town centre and to his right, the forest. Not bothering to figure out what village the bodies belonged too, he moved towards the forest.  
  
With a maddeningly slow pace, he made his way out of the city and into the forest. Praying to whatever deities would listen, he found himself glad that he was lazy enough to sit in an alley at the edge of town.  
  
Small girl in tow, he simply headed into the cover of the forest and within moments vanished from the sight of the town.  
  
A handful of cloud trackers watched them disappear for a moment and prepped themselves to hunt down the two figures, when suddenly they were surprised to find themselves under attack.  
  
Cursing the other incompetent teams, the captain of the trackers quickly lost two of his men and after a few moments of combat and three jutsus later, was dead along with the rest of his tracking team.  
  
"Search the town! She can't have gotten to far!" a man with a goatee stated calmly as he took a drag from his cigarette, bladed knuckles resting comfortably between his fingers. The few chuunin under his command simply nodded and vanished.  
  
"Asuma-sensei, we should head towards the town centre, I believe that the cloud is trying to rally their men there." A young man with his hair clasped upwards, making it look a pineapple stated with a frown.  
  
"Well, the others here will clean up and I doubt that the cloud has found her either. She can't have made it anywhere by herself and it wont take too long until we find her again." Asuma stated with a puff of smoke as he put out his cigarette and began to make his way to the town centre.  
  
Looking down into a small alley, he stared at a dead cloud-nin that someone had killed earlier, before they came and found himself wonder what had happened to team 7. Sasuke had vanished, Sakura has vanished and Naruto had vanished... it was all to annoying to think on. But as he stared at the dead body, he suddenly wondered of Naruto was still wearing that gaudy orange set of clothes...  
  
There was also a small burst of charka around this place moments before but it was too vague to make it out as anything. But then again, there were bursts of charka all around the small town as leaf and cloud danced around roofs and streets. The day was still young too...  
  
"This is troublesome..." Shikamaru ended with a sigh and followed his teacher towards a fight that would undoubtedly take to much effort on his part.  
  
Author's Corner:  
  
Well, this is the release of my new series that will be updated once every 2 or so years =P Since I finished that late, I am keeping this short but I'm here to say that this is going to be my most serious and hopefully one of my best Naruto works to date!  
  
I hoped to try to do something with the viewpoints, so please bear with me as you dredge through this confusing moment as I smirk at you in amusement from my end!  
  
Until next time! Bye Bee!  
  
Ver. 0.5 (still needs to be edited but wanted to release something!) 


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